Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas formed two ends of arguably one of the best basketball rivalries of the late 1980s and early ’90s. Jordan’s Chicago Bulls and Thomas’ ‘Bad Boy’ Pistons met three times in the Playoffs, with Detroit handing Chicago series losses in 1989 and 1990 before the Bulls broke the hump in 1991, embarking on a run of six championships in the next nine seasons.
The on-court rivalry had a personal impact on both Thomas and Jordan’s relationship as basketball players. While players from that era weren’t as friendly as players nowadays, we did see Larry Bird and Magic Johnson have one of the greatest hardwood rivalries, which blossomed into a profound friendship. That did not happen with Thomas and Jordan, as their on-court rivalry allegedly prompted Jordan to use his influence and keep Thomas out of the 1992 Team USA Olympic Dream Team.
Thomas’s absence from the Dream Team had a great personal impact on the Pistons legend. He was a guest on The Beat with Ari Mebler on MS Now, where the host asked him when he last spoke to his old rival. Thomas revealed that it’s been 34 years since his last conversation with Jordan, just before the Dream Team snub.
“It was right before the Dream Team.”
Thomas has openly spoken about being left out of the Dream Team and aggressively implies that it was because of Jordan, although it has never been objectively proven.
“They didn’t want me on the team,” Thomas said. “A lot of people were saying there was no secret meeting. So it just sounds like it’s just one guy [Michael Jordan]. I’m just saying, that’s the way it sounded, and if that’s how you felt, own it. If you didn’t feel that way, then clean it up.”
The player who won the Olympics MVP on the Dream Team was Charles Barkley, and even he has openly said that Thomas should’ve been on the team and addressed that Jordan didn’t want him on the team. Thomas even reacted to this admission before deleting his post on X.
“I’m glad you asked me that because every time I hear that BS, like, no, man, they never asked me. Should Isiah have been on the team? Probably. I was never asked. And well, I mean, like I say, obviously, it’s come out a couple of times that Michael didn’t want him on the team.”
